Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Black history taught in US schools is often watered-down, riddled with inaccuracies and stripped of its context and rich, full-bodied historical figures. Equipped with the real story of Rosa Parks, professor David Ikard highlights how making the realities of race more benign and digestible harms us all — and emphasizes the power and importance of historical accuracy.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here:
Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:
Subscribe to our channel:
I’m early eh!
Ooo! Rosa parks frick yea.
I imagine how much of histrory we learned is inaccurate
@Charitable Miracle Ministry, Farmers & Barbers ת I have no clue what topic that would have spurred such a reaction. I know that a few teachers have taught things about my faith (Judaism) that I had to correct. Maybe it was something found in one of my old college textbooks. (My parents had “strong words” for my fifth grade teacher about a fact that was “true on the college level, but contradicted what was in the textbook she was using.” They were proponents on making sure my knowledge was factually correct and not correct in the way the text book taught it.)
History is written by the victorious.
slick Rick Gonna add that the ‘watch later’ list for sure!! Thanks for sharing.
They always use the saying. History is writtwn by the winners but should also include a phrase that history is often written by people with egos and they want to be remembered. Look up native american history and how its morphed over the years.
Rosa Parks was a card carrying communist who tried pulling the bus fiasco over the course of a year. But it didn’t gain momentum until a local Montgomery journalist finally agreed to come down and take photos of her getting arrested. The whole thing was a sham. It didn’t happen organically.
@TheScholar74 it’s the reason the narrative was changed to Rosa Parks being a little old woman who was just too tired in the first place. If Parks is an activist who was engaged in direct action, then she has an agenda, if she’s a communist, she’s bad. If she’s bad and she has an agenda, then she can’t be an American hero.
So the story is rewritten and “conveniently” the idea of activism and direct action being a way to achieve social change is minimised. And we can ignore that communists were doing things that have been seen as positive for America. It’s why King’s union activism, support for socialism, and having armed guards which were one step away form being a paramilitary force is downplayed, because if it isn’t, then the narrative is that black people got their rights in a peaceful movement because the alternative was they they’d get violent. And that’s basically terrorism, and the US never negotiates with terrorists.
The narrative must always be maintained.
@Lorcan Nagle I’m so glad I clicked read more. I was about to think that first paragraph was your serious argument.
And all those NAACP clowns working for the Oligarchs went on become Neo-Conservatives planning perpetual war in the Middle East.
It was strategic, so what? That’s smart
Parks was nothing more than a pseudo martyr like Freddie Gray and Treyvon Martin.
Most historical icons are mistaught in our schools in America. Take Edison for example. It’s not a matter of race.
that’s because we like to take people and events and use them to spin a narrative. Edison is seen as a brilliant inventor because the people that have revised the history value business tycoons more than people that work for the good of everyone.
@Kurt E. Clothier i was shocked when I found he electrocuted an elephant in Coney Island
His interpretation of his professor’s childhood maid is brilliant. I was wondering where he’d go with it, but it seems to be a more plausible version of events.
in a way, yes. on the other hand, who knows. either way, i like his story better and it’s the one that is more needed.
A 2020 black male professor who wasn’t even born yet recounting black peoples feelings in the sixties? I am sorry but you can’t put that in my head, because even though you are a learned historian you have little idea of what you are talking about.
I haven’t read the autobiography but it would be interesting to see if she mentioned strong women figures in her life.
I wish he gave a more concrete commitment. I found myself having to replay the closing remarks to see what he actually wanted. Still kind of uncertain.
The TL;DR of his closing remarks are, “Whitewashing history can corrupt the lessons history is trying to teach us, and it impacts everyone’s future.”
that’s a common theme in public speeches, especially TED talks. There’s a lot of “here’s something that’s going on” and “here’s why it’s bad” but no “this is what we should do about it.” Sometimes, there are meaningless abstract solutions, but no concrete plans, so it’s just another story for most people to forget by the end of the day.
I would say that’s because there isn’t a simple, one-stroke solution to fixing this kind of problem. It takes a lot to deliberately make culture change, and it almost always happens slowly. It will take a lot of actions over time, and a lot of internal changes to ourselves. So there are a lot of actions we can work on. He didn’t directly state them, but he implied a number of things we can do:
– Let go of “White fragility.” Get used to being challenged, and don’t be offended when you are.
– Be inquisitive, and be open to the possibility of your old theories and beliefs being proven wrong.
– Do your own research, and go to the direct sources when possible.
– Listen to to the perspectives of people who are “Other” to you. Seek out their side of the story, rather than assuming your own is the only side.
– Be prepared to educate others, and be prepared to call out misinformation when you hear it.
And of course,
– Fix the education system. Seriously.
That’s what I think, at least. It could be a starting point.
@Kurt E. Clothier I’d argue this is not an issue with the speakers, but with TED as a YouTube channel – all of their videos are titled in a clickbait-like fashion, often taking a very small idea from the lecture or phrasing it as a “how to overcome/learn ____” when in reality most of these people are just here to shed light on their backgrounds and specialties to either garner interest in their direction or to start a conversation.
I still think that it’s crazy that all of this history happened less than a 100 years ago. When you read about it in a book you feel like it happened ages ago, and it doesn’t have much of an effect on your life. When you realize that all these things didn’t happen that long ago, it definitely gives you perspective on how far we have come and how far we have left to go.
The assassination of Martin Luther King was about a year before the Apollo-11 mission, just to give some perspective
It’s not History. It’s propaganda. The whole story is a HOAX.
I definitely agree with ‘we have come a long way’!
I definitely do NOT agree with ‘we still have a long way to go’!
Equality is already here.
Even positive discrimination – wich in fact is discrimination against others – so we are already too far on equality.
TIME is what makes a level playingfield.
Not rules and regulations at this time in humanity.
@Thomas Miller you’re right. It was a complete hoax perpetuated by the democrats and the communist party. Parks was a phony.
I tried explaining this to soemone and they called me racist. I was accused of attempting to “marginalize the contributions of historical women of color”. I explained that I was actually trying to do the opposite while also letting a bit of truth into the myth but the accusation of racism seemed to discredit anything that I said. I probably shouldn’t talk to bus drivers while they’re driving anyway.
Thank you for this talk! I was reminded to take a closer look at commonly accepted history.
Thank you.
Man finding this out in college was a real slap in the face; I’m glad this man and others like him are willing to force us to see the truth.
Sir drad pap rha
Dard my dimag was gya
My koi kra
I could swear I was taught Rosa Parks was an old woman too. I also am confused. I’m shocked. Thank you for this talk☺️
MILK was murdered before he turn 40.
We all need to confront the myths about black history.
All news and history are pre-agreed talking points. Which in no way conveys the complexity and experience for the people who lived it.
Enough already. Is February over yet!
I never learned that Rosa was an old lady. Tbh, i assumed she was younger than 40s